In All Modesty

After September 11, the burka leapt from obscurity to front-page news. The media portrayed it as an example of the oppression of women; pictures of Muslims looking downtrodden in these long, dour robes were everywhere. The burka was seized upon as a photogenic symbol of feared and mysterious forces threatening the western way of life. It was only when the fall of Kabul did not produce the expected public disrobing that the media were forced to probe a little more deeply into the complexities of the issue of Islam and women's clothing.